July 7, 201
My dog is sick.
Every kid should have a dog. Sometimes, though, it is rough. My dog, Oliver, a ten-year-old Wheaten terrier was just diagnosed with lymphoma. We don’t know what the possibilities are for him, for it is too soon.
If he goes, this will leave an emotional hole in the life of my partner and me. Of course, he’s the best dog in the world. Everybody knows that. He kept us together through bad times.
When I was in grade six, we got a dog, a kind of Beagle thing with a bit of Cocker in him, just enough to keep the tail down. I always thought that was a perk.
But before a year was out, he got hit by a car and that was curtains for Tippy. So, during the summer of 1957, I was again dogless. Of course, I grieved, but what I didn’t have was the duration of dog relationship, travelling with my favourite pet while he went through the various stages and ages of life. That I missed out on. I figure the dog would have been around until I graduated from university, but that never happened. I didn’t get to know joy, nurturing, caring, fear, ageing and loss to their fullest.
So, I still don’t know what it is to lose my dog, not after so many years. All I know is that he is sick and tired and not eating and listless and breathing hard. It’s hard to watch. And I’m scared for him.
Although, at this age, I have seen the passing of my parents; nevertheless, I have to say the emotional bond with a pet is also very strong. Not quite a full family member, but there is a place in the home, in the heart, in the mind for a little, furry animal that loves you when you come home. Even my mother didn’t come rushing to the door when I got home from school, kissing me all over and practically turning cartwheels. Funny, that.
Although for the latter years at home, she was at work so I didn’t have student debts. I should have been jumping all over her and turning cartwheels.
So, Oliver was the first long-term dog I ever owned, and that took until I was 63. Actually, it was my partner who sprung for him. Leonard had some twenty dogs at a time back home in Singapore because he raised them to sell, for he made enough to take himself to Canada to go to school. He’s a dog person. Some people have that gene.
And I’m worried about Leonard. He is feeling it hard. Of all dogs, Oliver is it, apart from a Dachshund named Chubby Toes some 30 or so years ago. This is rough.
So, going back to every kid having a dog. Every kid should. It is exactly this kind of experience that engages empathy and caring. I didn’t have Tippy long enough for him to become my best friend over a long duration. And that’s what dogs can do, particularly when the kid is lonely—be a best friend, unconditionally. You are never totally alone when the dog is cuddled up on your lap. That’s why old people can’t be forced to get rid of a pet in an apartment. It’s a need. A dog is better than a therapist. They just love you.
And now that we face some dire eventuality, the value becomes real. Very real. And hard. And that’s part of it.
Every kid should have a dog.